A/RES/63/155 2. Recognizes that violence against women and girls persists in every country in the world as a pervasive violation of the enjoyment of human rights and a major impediment to achieving gender equality, development, peace and the internationally agreed development goals, in particular the Millennium Development Goals; Expresses its concern about the continuing level of impunity for acts of 3. violence against women worldwide; Welcomes the report of the Secretary-General on the intensification of 4. efforts to eliminate all forms of violence against women, 9 and takes note of the report of the Secretary-General on eliminating rape and other forms of sexual violence in all their manifestations, including in conflict and related situations; 10 8F 9F Welcomes also the efforts and important contributions at the local, 5. national, regional and international levels to eliminate all forms of violence against women, including by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, in particular the second thematic report on violence against women, its causes and consequences submitted by the Special Rapporteur to the Human Rights Council in 2008; 11 10F Recognizes the important role of the family in preventing and combating 6. violence against women and girls and the need to support its capacity to prevent and combat violence against women; Welcomes the launch of the Secretary-General’s campaign to end 7. violence against women “UNiTE to End Violence against Women”, supported, inter alia, by the United Nations Development Fund for Women advocacy campaign “Say NO to violence against women” and the United Nations inter-agency initiative “Stop Rape Now: United Nations Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict”, stresses the need to ensure that concrete follow-up activities will be undertaken by the United Nations system to intensify action to end violence against women, in close consultation with existing system-wide activities on violence against women, and requests the Secretary-General to identify, announce and report on the basis of the expected results of his campaign; Strongly condemns all acts of violence against women and girls, whether 8. these acts are perpetrated by the State, by private persons or by non-State actors, and calls for the elimination of all forms of gender-based violence in the family, within the general community and where perpetrated or condoned by the State; Stresses that it is important that States strongly condemn all forms of 9. violence against women and refrain from invoking any custom, tradition or religious consideration to avoid their obligations with respect to its elimination as set out in the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women;2 10. Stresses also that States have the obligation to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms of women and girls and must exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate, prosecute and punish the perpetrators of violence against women and girls and to provide protection to the victims, and that failure to do so violates and impairs or nullifies the enjoyment of their human rights and fundamental freedoms; _______________ 9 A/63/214 and Corr.1. A/63/216 and Corr.1. 11 A/HRC/7/6. 10 3

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